Guest blogger Lesley Singleton has been working in consumer PR and the media for more than a decade. In that time, she has worked for big London PR agencies (including PR Week’s “Agency of the Year”) as well as in-house for a major airline and a high street bank. Here she gives some advice on how to use calendar hooks to make your news more newsworthy. Your business is up and running and now you’re on a mission to drum up custom. You’ve done your research and already know your product is... (more...)

No-one can have avoided the stories and pictures of the catastrophic earthquake that has hit Haiti. Estimates of the numbers killed by the earthquake range from 50,000 to at least 200,000 and while food and water are finally reaching some parts of the capital Port-au-Prince, large numbers of survivors are still having to fend for themselves. To try and help in some small way the blogging community has set up a Just Giving page to raise money to buy as many Shelter Boxes as they can to send to Haiti. Each... (more...)

As it’s a Monday morning we thought it would be nice to start the week by spreading a little happiness. Enjoy! AKPC_IDS += "1927,";Popularity: 1% [?]Spread a little happiness Read More →

This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.” William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1.3 This is my favourite quotation and one which, whenever I am in doubt about something, I call to mind. Whether the issue concerns your children, your partner, your friends, your colleagues or customers, the only thing you can ever do is be true to your own beliefs and do what feels right for you. Nobody knows you better than you know... (more...)

You may have a successful business, a fantastic product or a sought-after service – but how safe is your business idea and when should you start to think about protecting it? Here Trademark Attorney Aaron Wood gives you an overview of Wood’s 5W’s of IP – What, Why, When, Who & Where? A successful business is made up of a number of assets: the skills of its people, the financial backing which allows it to weather the storms and the hardware and plant it owns.  Programmes such... (more...)

Just over a year ago I had a new baby, but it was very unlike my previous two children. It had been discussed for a short while and was very wanted, but there was some doubt as to whether this was the right time.  I already had 2 children, but I had a new partner and she also had 2 children, so how would the new baby fit in? Perfectly, because I’m not talking about a real baby; I’m talking about my ‘business baby’ – Mum’s The Boss. Like many mums, both Sam and I rejected the ‘going... (more...)

My future isn’t about my past (Life is only about NOW) Nothing that has ever happened has anything to do with now, unless, in my now, I continue to think and speak about it. Fresh new thoughts give me a fresh new experience. Taken from The Teachings of Abraham Well-Being Cards by Esther & Jerry Hicks AKPC_IDS += "1848,";Popularity: 4% [?]Thought for Thursday #1 Read More →

Green and Brown’s ‘Style Council’, run by Image Consultant Elaine Boddy, is a new regular free image, shopping and money saving advice service open to everyone. Throughout the year they will be holding lunchtime and early evening hour long events in Midsummer Place shopping centre, Milton Keynes, to share… Tips and ideas about what to wear; What’s good for different shapes and budgets; Plus general image ideas; Clothes will have been chosen from around the centre to... (more...)

After a post-Christmas weigh-in I find myself with something of a problem. I am the heaviest I have ever been (including being pregnant) and I need to lose weight. Yes I’m a mummy, but this is not Baby Fat. This is Toddler Fat. Let me explain…… Call me a freak, but both times I’ve been pregnant I have lost weight. I spent the first 12 weeks feeling nauseous all the time, thereby losing weight. Then once the sickness had passed my body just seemed to turn all the food I ate... (more...)

In 2010 we have set ourselves a challenge – to raise £1404 to enable us to fund the training of 52 new business women in the developing world – that’s 1 new businesswoman for every week of the year! In 2010 Mum’s The Boss’ nominated charity is Oxfam and, through the Oxfam Unwrapped programme, we want to raise enough money to train 52 new businesswomen in developing countries through Oxfam’s Train a Businesswoman gift. The scheme helps aspiring businesswomen by developing... (more...)